I always keep this paper from NBER handy https://www.nber.org/papers/w24085 https://www.nber.org/papers/w24085, especially this chart: https://imgur.com/h8Fo8yx

I always keep this paper from NBER handy https://www.nber.org/papers/w24085 https://www.nber.org/papers/w24085, especially this chart: https://imgur.com/h8Fo8yx https://imgur.com/h8Fo8yx. Stocks are in fact held primarily by the wealthy. This is a separate question though than whether they are also very important for retirement accounts. You are 100% right about that, even though middle-class retirement accounts represent a small share of the overall market.